I know, same joke as yesterday, but there are some fundamental realities that must be considered before even starting on what should happen with the Old Hospital.
1) Mount Gambier City Council have done 2 major projects in the Cave Garden 'precinct', the Library and Main Corner, that were meant to cost a combined $10million, but instead officially cost $11.5m and $10m respectively, more than twice what they should; and that is the cost Council is admitting to, and does not include interest on borrowings.
By informed 'guesstimate' I believe that the final total will be nearly $30m for these two un-neccesary projects that were meant to cost $10m; Mt Gambier already had a Library and the Main Corner is an elitist extravagence that serves no purpose, other than to create massive debt for ratepayers and equally massive profits for a few choice friends and family of City Councillors; Councillors are all tarred with the same brush; you are all corrupted by your selfishness.
Council has replaced the Library and built the Main Corner Project without any definable business plans, guaranteeing that their potential profit won't even cover running costs, and will never go close to recovering the huge sums committed; eg, the Library costs approx $2m per annum just to operate.
Council's only definable plan for cost recovery is to go into business directly against ratepayers by directing Council events, etc, to their function venue, the Main Corner, to be catered by Councillor Des Mutton's son, Lachlan; it's a bloody, corrupt disgrace.
What about the money Council continues to commit to events in the 'Cave Gardens Precinct' to try and justify the huge sums spent there already, including going into business against private market operators with the 'Farmers Market'; using ratepayers money to compete with ratepayers; outrageous and unacceptable.
In his last weeks as CEO (late 2011) Greg Muller mis-appropriated at least $340,000 re the Main Corner, as covered in Council and the media (and previous blogs), and it is alleged that there are other large sums simply missing, and/or hidden in the budgets of other Council departments, eg, 'Green wall' maintenance and other gardening not included in 'Main Corner budget'.
Given their record, the proposed $5m demolition will easily pass $10m.
Point 1): Council cannot be allowed to commit to any further projects until a full audit of the Library and Main Corner projects establishes where the costly mistakes and/or mismanagement have occurred, so that those mistakes are not repeated.
Unfortunately, the evidence defines that what Council has done with the Main Corner Project is quite deliberate, and has achieved exactly what they set out to do; these are objectives not mistakes, and therefore Council will never willingly submit to an audit because they know exactly where that money has disappeared to, because that is exactly what was meant to happen.
2) Why did Council pay $1.4million for the Old Hospital, well above market value (approx $1m), to a company that was effectively in receivership, for an un-sellable derelict property that Council must have known they could only ever afford to demolish, regardless of the condition?
It looks like Council has simply used ratepayers money to help Mr Boots (previous owner) pay off his debts, whilst loading up Mt Gambier with more, massive debt; this debt load is currently (depending on who you believe) at approx 75% of Council's income, and by their own figures, set to hit 90% within a few years.
Council has now lumbered ratepayers with both the debt of the purchase (who the hell was stupid enough to lend them that money) and the impending cost of demolition.
This debt will be used to force the sale of the Rail Lands as per Council's Retail Agenda, backed up by the argument that Council has just returned the Old Hospital site to parklands, their current plans.
Council will argue both ways; we need to sell the Rail Lands to afford the demolition of the Old Hospital, and Mt Gambier doesn't need another parkland if that's what we do to the hospital.
Point 2): City Council is fully committed to building a huge Retail Development on the Old Rail Lands (previous blogs), and will do anything to realise that agenda; the site must be kept clear.
This agenda has driven Councillors to make selfish decisions regardless of the outcome for ratepayers, eg, the Penola Rd zoning debacle, bus depot fiasco, failure to move on the all-weather pool issue, etc; there is nothing in Mt Gambier that has not been affected by this obsession with the Rail Lands Retail Agenda (RLRA).
Councillors have deceived en masse, completely ignoring the Rail Lands issue until forced to act (to distract from the Main Corner disaster) with a false declaration of 'Parklands Development' (Nov 2011), followed by a structured program of deliberately deceiful press releases as to why none of that will happen, eg, 'we've got to check the deed now'; 'the rail easement is a problem'; 'ohhh, the contamination'; etc.
None of these 'problems' stopped Council re-zoning the site to Retail in 2009, and they will continue to make decisions based fundamentally on the Rail Lands Retail Agenda.
3): The Old Hospital may be derelict now, but it was built to last; when the volcano goes again (no time soon I hope) the building will probaly end up in the Main Street, largely still intact, the only thing left standing for miles around.
This is of course a slight exaggeration, but the building is set on massive foundations that are designed to address these particular issues of subsoil strata and potential slippage; short of a huge eruption, that hospital is going nowwhere.
Point 3): Does Council fully appreciate the task ahead in demolishing the Old Hospital?
Even more concerning, do they know exactly what is required but are not being forthright with that knowledge? Is there a massive cost blow-out written un-officially into Council's plans?
Given their abject failures and selfish corruption of process with the Library, Main Corner, Rail Lands, Bus Terminal, All-weather Pool, etc, and the RLRA, City Council have proven themselves to be fundamentally corrupted and irretrievably dysfunctional.
Council business is done for the benefit of a handful of Councillors and their mates; it's a...wait for it...bloody...wait for it...disgrace; there you go.
Council cannot be trusted with milk money let alone millions; they must resign en masse and then be held to account for the Main Corner (and Library), and charged when appropriate, eg, charging Greg Muller with a $340,000 fraud.
To this end, I will take new CEO Mark McShane's advice, and take these issues to the Ombudsperson and SAPol's Anti-Corruption Branch; but I ain't holdin' my breath...this is South Australia after all.
Tomorrow: WIN TV News Axed - The Dismantling of Regional South Australia
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